Verratti, Motta to miss Bastia battle

Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc is confident his side can cope without some international players against Bastia on Saturday.

The Ligue 1 giants are missing Marco Verratti and Thiago Motta through suspension and could be without others after the international break.

Blanc is particularly worried about whether his South American contingent, including the likes of Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi, will be available.

“There are players who had a busy time during this international break, especially the South Americans,” he said.

“They had to fly so it makes things difficult. We have this marathon of games to play. We have some players who fortunately or unfortunately trained here.

“They recovered well but they also worked well during this fortnight. You will see if some of these players will start or not. I have to decide.”

Blanc urged his side to respect a Bastia team who sit 10th after losing just one of their past five league matches.

He said missing quality players was a blow, but believes his side will still be competitive with others given their opportunity to impress.

“We are not the only team in the league who will play without players suspended or injured,” Blanc said.

“How do we do? Every team can put in the pitch a competitive team. And I can say without taking any risk that we will be able to do that.

“Thiago Motta and Marco Verratti won’t play. They are important players in our system, but the players who will replace them have qualities that they can show.

“I think we will be competitive even if they are absent. We would have preferred them to play but there is nothing we can do.”